The Invisible Chia
by soggydude
Summary: A valuable statue of a Chia has been stolen, and Detective Lupe must find out who. There has been an error, and for some reason there are no paragraphs. Please don't flame me about that
1. Part 1

A breeze blew in my broken window. Ever since my last case, I had tried to get someone to fix it, but so far no luck. On top of that, I had lost my wings. My owner had the idea that the Lab Ray was perfect to use on me. It had worked for a while, but during that time I had changed species like people changed channels. My owner managed to find a Stone Lupe morphing potion, and thus I was now Stone. It was hard being in this form when I remembered soaring in the air. On a good note Lupe Day was going to be here. I couldn't wait. My Airax that soggydude had gotten me was flying around my office, most likely not enjoying the small space. "You and me both Kazooie," I said. As I was thinking this, my phone rang. I nearly leaped for it, because it had appeared crime had taken a small break. I answer calmly. "Hello, this is Detective Lupe, how may I help you?" The answer on the phone came from an unsteady voice. "Yes, I have a very unusual case, and I would like you to come to my apartment." "I take all cases, normal or strange," I replied. I got his address, and left with Kazooie on my shoulder. After taking a bus, I looked at the apartments. There was a small garage at the bottom. The apartment building itself was a two-stories. There was a small pool in the middle. I knocked at the gate. A plump Chia came to the gate, and scowled at me. "I'm sorry, but no salesmen! I don't want my tenants disturbed!" "Actually M'am, I'm-" "I don't care what you are doing!" "Ms. Shala!" I looked up to see an Acara coming down some stairs. "I invited this Lupe over." Ms. Shala gave me a glance, and walked off. The Acara came over. "Sorry about that. Ms. Shala is very nosy." He shook my paw and looked at Kazooie. "Thank you for coming. Please come to my apartment." We walked up to his apartment. It was sized larger then most, and appeared to have been tended with loving care. Many different paintings hung on the wall. I then recognized him. "Hey! You're Ozie, the art collector!" He chuckled. "I guess that was inevitable. Yes, I am he. But lets get on with the case." We went to a room with a chest of drawers. The drawers had been opened, and there were several letters in there. I turned to Ozie for an explanation. He saw my look, and took in a breath. "Well, this may sound weird, but I think I am being." He looked around. ".Haunted." I stared at him. "Haunted?" He nodded. "Several times, I have seen a shadowy presence. I wrote it off as my imagination at first, but I've been seeing it more now. Also, my letters have been arranged, and things have been left open, such as the drawers. I had a special lock put in, but these things keep happening. You must help me!" I knew that sometimes people who lived alone could imagine such things, but I decided to help him away. "When did this happen?" "A while ago. Maybe a month or so." I took out my magnifying glass and dust kit. I dusted the drawer. There were faint print impressions, but only one type. They were most likely from Ozie. Studying them more, I saw they were Acara prints, about his size. I sighed in defeat. "Has anything else been touched?" He led me to other doors and even a medicine cabinet. There were only his prints. I spent a good hour looking over the apartment, but there were no prints. I turned to Ozie. "Has anything disappeared?" He shook his head. "Nothing important that I would know about." We both felt disappointed. Even Kazooie gave a sigh. I looked out a window. "Any tenants you know who might look through here?" "No, we respect each other. At least, I think we do. Most of the tenants are gone for the holiday." "Can you name the tenants?" "There are several. Lets see, there is Niki. Next is Creel. Then there is Rentree. His nephew, Eyrioch is visiting for a while. Last is Channy." I had recorded this on my handy recorder. I switched it off, and then nodded. "So the shadowy thing doesn't seem to take anything. All it does is move your things. Very interesting." Suddenly, sirens went off startling Kazooie who flew up and began to squawk loudly. We both glanced out the window and rushed down the stairs, following the noise as Kazooie caught up with me. We reached a large building. Ozie turned to me. "This is where the Society of Nimmo meet. No one else goes here." We began to go forward, and met up with a small crowd. "I saw it!" I turned around to see a frantic Lenny. She was waving her arms about. "It was the ghost!" I noticed several people scoff at this. A Chia police officer came over. "Now Ms. Stami, you know there is no ghost." But his efforts were in vain. Ms. Stami kept shouting about a ghost. "What ghost is she talking about?" Ozie looked at her with a look that said "Not again!" "There is a rumor that one of the Nimmos is still haunting the place. She believes in it and even claims on a daily basis that he exists." Ozie shook his head, and I went forward. An officer stopped me. "I'm sorry sir, but no one is allowed beyond this point." "What happened? He looked at me with a funny glance, but then replied, "Someone robbed a house of some guy named." he went over to another officer, and came back. "Ah yes. His name was Fero. His art is really valuable now, and some thief took off with a priceless glass sculpture. He might be in here. Say, are you that Detective Lupe?" I nodded. It seemed like the story of my case was spreading. "I thought so. Anyway, you can find out more later, when the chief will release more news." The doors then opened, and a red Nimmo walked out. He was in a dark cloak, but he looked friendly. "Come in officers." The officers began to go in and spilt up into groups. The doors closed, and everyone left, knowing that nothing else would be revealed. Having his slice of excitement for the day, Ozie began to walk off. I caught up with him, and we thought of a plan. Just then, I remembered a method used in a detective story. "You know, there might be a way to see if the shadowy thing is a pet or not," I said casually. "How?" He seemed interested. "Well, I'll need three ingredients and a jar." I went to a nearby store and looked all around for two ingredients. Finding them, I paid for them and added it to Ozzie's bill. I went back to the apartment, and saw Ms. Shala peek out at me. I rolled my eyes, and went over to Ozie's small house. He gave me a jar, and I added the first ingredient. It was a fine white powder. I took a measuring cup, and poured the right amount of water in. I sloshed it around to mix it well. Then I took a tube with a special ointment and squeezed it out. I closed the lid and shook it. When I was done, there was a large amount of white cream in the jar. Ozie looked at me curiously. "What is that?" I grinned. "It's a special cream that detectives use. If you touch it, your hands, paws, fins, whatever you have, becomes black with a dye like material that cannot be washed off for a long time. It's hard to show up on darker colored pets, but I'm sure it's worth a try. We just simply spread it around whatever the pet has been touching, and in a few hours, we'll have a good idea of who did it." "Great! So now what do we do?" I looked outside. Almost all the tenants were home. "Lets leave, then come back." We walked down the stairs, and Ozie said purposefully loud, "So Detective, where would you like to eat?" "How about the Golden Doubloon," I asked in an equally loud tone. We continued like this until we couldn't be heard. An hour later, after a small meal at the Golden Doubloon, we returned to his apartment. The first thing I did was look at the drawer. The cream, so carefully placed, was smeared. We went around the house. The intruder had gone in his bedroom, his kitchen, opened his fridge (no food missing) and even his bathroom and medicine cabinets! Ozie was outraged of course. "Why that- what gave him or her the right to just snoop around?" I looked at him, trying to calm him down. "Do you have anything coming in?" He nodded. "Yes, but what would the letters be good for? And why would the pet snoop around all these places?" Those were questions that had to be answered. We walked out again. "Now remember, act casual." We sat near the pool, talking about everything from the inflation rise to hidden tower items waiting for a pet with their paws smudged with black stains to come by. But it was a long wait. After about half an hour, I looked around. "Where is everybody?" "They could be sleeping or at work. Why don't you come back in the evening?" I agreed, and Ozie went back into his apartment while I decided to go look at the case the police had been investigating. I walked over, and saw the police packing up their supplies. I walked over to the chief and greeted him. "Hey Chief! Did you find anything about the burglar?" The Chief looked at me and recognized me. "Hey Detective! No, not yet. The area has been looked over and we haven't found a thing." I nodded, and he left with the other Chia policemen. I knocked on the door, and the same Nimmo answered. "Hello, who are you?" "I'm Detective Lupe, and I'm interested in the burglary that took place this afternoon. Can I look around your building?" The Nimmo seemed to think, and then he nodded. "Of course." He led me inside. It had a small entrance room. There were statues of several pets. Beyond that was a great hall, with many doors. There were a few more statues. I looked at them, then at the doors. "This might take a while." A few hours later, I had investigated all the rooms. I walked out tired, but then remembered I had to go over to meet Ozie. When I got there, Ozie was looking at a watch. "Good you're here! People should be coming back now." I watched as different pets came in, but none had any telltale signs. Ozie turned to me. "Well, looks like that didn't work. Now what?" I continued to look at everyone coming in. "Say, do you know what the Society of Nimmos is about?" He shrugged. "No one really knows. They all wear those cloaks and there are rumors that some of them are the great heroes in Neopia." I took this all in. "And who was Fero?" He sighed. "Fero was a great artist. He made many sculptures and paintings. They recently have gone up in price, so I wouldn't be surprised if thieves tried to take it." I nodded to show I understood. Ozie looked at his watch again. "You know, we still haven't found out. Maybe you should try another method." "Sure," I said and walked off. While I was going that way I bumped into Ms. Shala. "Well how rude!" She said. "Some people need to look out when they walk!" "Oh yeah? Well some people shouldn't be snooping around other people's stuff without permission!" Kazooie roared in agreement. Ms. Shala looked surprised then shocked. "How DARE you accuse me of such a thing!" "Then why are your hands smudged with the black mess that comes from the cream put around the house?" Ms. Shala looked at her hands with the telltale color. " I-I must have gotten something on my hands before." Ozie came over. "Ms. Shala, would you like me to call a lawyer?" Ms. Shala must have known that it was useless to lie. "All right, I admit it." They walked off, and I smiled. Another easy case.  
  
That night, I was woken up while I was sleeping. I dragged myself out of bed, and answered the phone. "Hello, who's this?" "Detective? The case isn't over." It was Ozie. "Can't this wait until morning?" I asked, still groggy. "DETECTIVE!" "What? It's two in the morning." "All right, but get over here ASAP!" Ozie hung up the phone and I went back to sleep. On the floor. In the morning, I quickly got my supplies, while drinking a cup of House Blend with Cream. "Recorder-check. Duster-check. Magnifying glass- wait, where is it?" I looked around the house, when it occurred to me to check where it usually is. In its place was a note.  
  
"Dear Detective, I borrowed your magnifying glass. Hope you don't mind. Sheriff  
  
I remembered the method of counting to ten. "Okay, one..two..TEN! "SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRIFFFFFFFFFFFF!"  
  
Meanwhile, out in Cougar Canyon, Sheriff Lupe, Sheriff for short, was holding Detective's magnifying glass. "See, I remember that people always start fires by rubbing two sticks together, but there are none around," he said to his friends. Lately in Cougar Canyon an avalanche near Terror Mountain had caused snow to come into the desert, which the pack wasn't used to. Sheriff was trying to figure a way to beat the cold. "Actually, rubbing two sticks together doesn't work unless you have the right wood," said Shiarr, a desert Kougra. "How would you know?" "Fluffy told me," said Shiarr, which caused the Lupes to back away from Shiarr. "Are you listening to those voices again?" Sheriff watched Shiarr carefully as he nodded. "You know Sheriff, this is very unlikely to work," said Alvator, a starry Lupe. "When I have I done something that doesn't work?" "How about the time we went up a cliff and you got it in you head to jump off into the creek?" This came from Braver, a red Lupe. The fire Lupe next to him laughed. "Oh shut up Anzy. What about the time Al made a snow Lupe and left, and when YOU came you thought he was turned into a snow Lupe, so you put your scarf and hat over it, then I came and ran into it and you thought Al was gone, then I pretended that I had turned him into a snow Lupe and you freaked out and-" "I think he gets it Sheriff," said Sin, a starry Lupess. "So it was YOU that destroyed my snow Lupe!" Alvator glared at Sheriff. "Uh, well, let's get back to the fire issue!" Sheriff focused the magnifying glass. All the Lupes and the Kougra waited. A small light came from under the wood, until the entire pile was ablaze. "I DID IT! YES YES YES!" Sheriff began to dance, while the others rolled their eyes. "I am the supreme intelligent being! I am the lord of fire, the master of heat! I make everything hot! Nothing is too hot for me! I can withstand the hottest temperatures! I-" Sheriff was interrupted when his foot hit the fire. "OOOOOOWWWWW! TOO HOT! TOO HOT!" He stuck his foot into snow, which made the pack crack up. "Ha ha real funny," Sheriff said sarcastically as he looked at his foot. "SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRIFFFFFFFFFFFF!" Detective's voice startled Sheriff, and he dropped the magnifying glass in the fire. "Oh no!" He tried to grab it. "Ouch! Too hot!" The pack was laughing their heads off. "I thought you said nothing was too hot for you, Lord of Fire and Master of Heat," said Alvator, while Sin, Anzy, and Shiarr rolled around laughing. Braver rolled his eyes. "I'll get it." He quickly reached into the fire and pulled out what remained of the magnifying glass. Sheriff looked at it. "You think Detective will notice? OUCH! Too hot!" He dropped the burned remains into the snow.  
  
To be continued..  
  
The Cougar Canyon pack is real, and the Lupes and Kougra are used with permission. Shiarr belongs to SilverSheDragon, Alvator belongs to Solargriffin, Braver belongs to gry_falcon125, Anzy belongs to radiopup, Sin belongs to o0famousgirlie0o, and Sheriff belongs to me (of course!). Thanks to these people for allowing me to use their pets. 


	2. Part 2

I ran out my house, hoping Sheriff would bring the magnifying glass back. I didn't even take the bus, I just ran. Finally I got there and knocked on the gate. Ms. Shala answered, and saw me. "Oh, it's you," she said snottily. "Yeah me, is Ozie here?" I hoped she wouldn't slam the gate shut. Just then Ozie came over. "Come on in Detective." I followed him, and we went to his apartment. When we got there he seemed depressed. "I have the worst luck. Now a priceless statue I was supposed to get was stolen from the pet delivering it to me today." I was a little surprised, but then remembered the policeman's words about a statue being stolen. "That must be what the burglar yesterday stole!" But at least Ozie didn't need to worry about Ms Shala. He had told her plainly that if she ever snooped around again he would call a lawyer. It turns out she had gotten a locksmith to create a key for his special lock. The locksmith didn't question her, as she owned the apartments. Then it hit me. "I think one of the tenants stole it! If she was snooping around, she might have found information on the glass sculpture. Assuming that she gossiped about it, anyone who listens to her knew it was valuable!" Just then, an ambulance's siren came closer. Both Ozie and me exchanged glances. "Now what?" We both said that at the same time. We ran out of the apartment and down to the ground. As we were leaving, a fire Nimmo sitting near the pool said, "Don't worry, it's nothing serious." I looked at him. Ozie also glanced back. "How would you know Creel?" The Nimmo seemed a bit surprised someone would ask. "I just do." We looked at each other again and then ran off. The ambulance was at the building for the Society of Nimmos. An old Nimmo was being carried out. The red Nimmo whom I had talked to yesterday shook his head. "I always told him to turn on the lights, but he thinks he saves us money. I guess he slipped while he was cleaning," he was saying to a green Grarrl who nodded. "Okay, put him in. It's nothing too serious, he should be back soon." I turned to Ozie. "You sure do live in a strange area." "Well, this is new to me. Seems like everything is going a little bad right now. This much never happens at one time." We left, and on the way I asked him about the glass statue. "Well, it made from the finest crystal, which is as clear as water. It has a bit of gold in it."  
  
"What does it look like?" "Well, it's a Chia. Fero was interested in heroes, and made paintings and sculptures. This is supposed to be his greatest work. The Chia was a hero long ago. If I remember the tale correctly, there was a mean pack of Lupes -no offense- who would come down to a Chia village. They would then take everything and destroy the town. Well, this Chia, I think his name was Ginjan. Ginjan was fed up with the Lupes and gathered a few Chias that weren't afraid to help him. When the Lupes came down again, he sprang a surprise attack on them. There was a huge battle, and more Chias joined in to help, until the Lupes were defeated and ran off, never to come back." As he told me we got back. Ozie went to his apartment, while I decided to stay near the pool. Creel was meditating. I felt a little nervous, but I sat by him. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "So you're the detective Ozie hired." It wasn't a question. I felt a small chill. "How did you know I was a detective?" "I just do." This was way too creepy for me. I began to leave. "Did you know Ozie has a mandala in his apartment?" That stopped me. "How did you-" I stopped knowing the answer. But he had just made my suspect list. When I went up to Ozie's apartment, he was sitting on a couch. He looked at me. "You know, when you found out Ms. Shala was the snooper, I figured that the shadowy thing would be gone. But now it's still here!" I calmed him down. "Listen, I got this a few weeks ago on impulse." I showed him a security camera. "The store this was from went out of business, so I got this cheap. I put it in a good place, and we see if anyone has the statue." He agreed to that plan, and we hooked up the camera while no one was there. Then we ran back to his apartment where I had hooked up the camera to his television set. "Got any popcorn?" I asked jokingly. "In the kitchen," he said distractedly. I looked at the screen. A Skieth was coming down the hall with a small package. Ms. Shala was there, almost lounging for the package. A Lupess came down the hall and accepted the package. The delivery Skeith left and Ms. Shala stayed there, while the Lupess waited for her to leave. Ozie sighed. "Ms. Shala likes to see what everyone gets. Honestly!" I watched as the Lupess opened the box. "Niki shouldn't allow Ms. Shala to bug her like that," Ozie said with disapproval. Niki opened the box, and grinned. I watched as she lifted up a chocolate Chia and ate it, and also ate a chocolate Kiko. She offered a Mallowicious Bar to Ms. Shala, who declined. "Sometimes I think she could be the eighth wonder of the world, considering how she stays in shape despite her love for chocolate." Suddenly Niki fell over. I jumped in surprise, and it looked as if Ms. Shala was surprised too. Ozie and me ran over and I saw Ms. Shala dialing on a phone. I lifted up a small bit off chocolate and sniffed once. The smell coming out nearly knocked me over. "There's something in here that shouldn't be!"  
  
A little while later, Ozie and me were at the pool. I looked at clear water, and counted the plain and gold color tiles. Ozie looked at his apartment. "Maybe I should move out," he said. "Yeah, something weird is definitely going on. But at least Niki is okay." The poison wasn't deadly, but it still freaked me out. "This confirms my suspicions that the person behind this is a tenant. I mean if Niki exercises as much as you said, no one would know she loves chocolate so much." Just then two electric Eyries came over. "Honestly Uncle, how could you be so careless? What if your place burned? What if the whole placed burned?" The bigger Eyrie looked at him. "Eyrioch, I'm careful. Don't worry!" "Uncle Rentree, I'm just worried. You shouldn't leave candles unattended." Rentree rolled his eyes and looked at me. "I hope you don't bug your owner like this." "Actually, I think he's right," I said, hoping he wouldn't think I was lecturing him. "Oh for the love of Fyora!" He walked away with Eyrioch behind. "Rentree takes advice the wrong ways sometimes," Ozie said. I thought about what to do. "Wait- could it be." I ran out while Ozie watched confused. "Where are you going Detective?" But I was too far to hear him. I ran over to the building where the Society of Nimmos was. I knocked on the door, which opened to my surprise. I saw a cloaked figure holding a candle. Even when I got closer I still couldn't tell what species of Neopet he or she was. "Sir?" I walked in. As soon as I was close, the figure disappeared! "Okay, this is getting weird," I said to myself as I walked toward the entrance. THUD! I jumped in surprise as the door slammed shut. I tried to open it but if felt as if someone was on the other side preventing me from opening it. "Okay, no problem. Just remain calm," I paced back and forth in the darkness trying to keep calm. Then I just ran to the door. "HELLO? IS ANYONE THERE! HELP I'M LOCKED IN!" I pounded on the door for what felt like hours. Then the door opened and a police Chia looked at me. "What happened?" I looked at the small squad of police Chias. "Someone locked me in." The Chias came in and looked around. "Is there anything missing?" Then it hit me. I slapped my forehead in frustration. "OF COURSE!" This caused the officers to jump, and one looked at me. "What?" "The burglar WAS here! And he or she was right under your noses. Well, you get the idea." The police seemed confused so I continued. "He or she ran in here after hiding the sculpture and disguised them selves as a statue. I also think what happened to the care taker wasn't an accident. Someone who worked there would notice a new statue, so the burglar must have crept up and-" "Okay, thank you," said a Chia as he interrupted me. They took this all down and I left.  
  
When I got back to the apartments Ms. Shala was looking at the pool. A Spilt Kyrii was also looking at it, along with Rentree. "You know, I think I should clean the pool. Niki uses it every day, but now I think I can drain it and get it cleaned. Rentree opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it. The Kyrii walked off, and I watched as he feed an Uggatrip, a Warf, and an Abdominable Snowman. Rentree also left. Ozie looked at the spilt Kyrii. "That's Channy. He takes in stray petpets and feeds them for a while." I took this in mentally.  
  
Later that day Ms. Shala was leaving. She was leaving someone else in charge apparently while she went off somewhere. As her bus came I noticed that the only person who wasn't there to see her off was Channy. "Why isn't Channy here?" Ozie shrugged. "I guess he's feeding the petpets. He always feed them at six 'o clock. Just then, a gigantic sound filled my ears. I looked as smoke rose from the bus, which sounded as if an explosive had gone off. The people on were jumping off, and Ms. Shala walked over to us and fainted. Everyone panicked until Eyrioch called the ambulance. I looked at Ozie. "Well this is not your average week," I said, thinking about the upcoming Lupe Day. Most pets had gone to celebrate, but I was here to solve the problem. The ambulance came again and picked up any pets injured or in shock. "This is just too weird. Why would someone do that?" I was feeling creeped out. Later that night I had the camera set up near Creel's room. Ozie was to stay there and make sure he didn't leave. I sat in the bushes, waiting. I heard someone come out and saw a fire Nimmo. "Creel," I muttered to myself. I walked over to him. He was near the pool. When I got there he vanished! "What the-" I didn't get it out because something tripped me. It and me went flying toward the pool, with a loud splash. The thing made a large grunting noise and bit my leg. Light came on and Channy came running over. He saw me and pulled me out, and removed the Uggatrip from my leg. "So sorry about that." He checked the Uggatrip and me. Aside from being wet nothing was wrong with either of us. I ran up to Ozie. "Did you see Creel leave?" He seemed confused. "Leave? He was in his apartment the whole time!" "That's impossible! I just saw him. There must be a good explanation for this!"  
  
I looked through the whole business book the next day, making sure that no one saw me. It seemed like a stupid idea, but I was out of them. I looked at the ad. "Professor Tryphen's Scientific Research Facility for Paranormal Incidents. Seems good," I muttered, and went over to the address. When I got there a Wocky greeted me. "Hello, I'm Professor Tryphen. What do you need?" I told him about Creel, and he nodded. "Come in!" I looked at the many scientists working. He led me to a private area. "Well, what I believe is that Creel is a wanderer." He laughed at my blank stare. "Very few people posses this ability. What happens is that when he sleeps, it's possible that he leaves his body." "Leaves his body?" This was sounding even weirder then before. If I hadn't had that experience last night I would have been out. "I remember a case like this before. A Lenny was having these weird dreams. She once dreamed that some friends of hers were preparing a surprise party. A few days later, they did have a surprise party. She came to us later because she didn't know what was happening. We ran a few tests, and decided to see if she was a wanderer. We had an envelope with a number inside, and we placed it far away, while we made sure she didn't get up. The next morning, she couldn't tell us the number but she gave us a perfect description of the envelope, up to the color of the wax used to seal it. Then we left the number on a piece of paper, and the next day she told us what it was. There was also a case when a Uni was in Mystery Island. His Doglefox began to bark, and when he looked for what was bothering his petpet, he saw another Uni, who looked like his friend. He called out to him, but the Uni ran in his house. He followed him until he couldn't find his friend. He called him on the telephone and told him what happened. The other Uni said he had a dream where he was at his house, and felt threatened when the other Uni confronted him so he ran. The dream ended when the telephone rang." There was silence for a long time. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "So Creel could be a wanderer?" It would make sense. Tryphen nodded. "Of course, it may not be so. But.." He let it hang. "And they can't hold or touch anything while they are wandering right?" He nodded. "Thanks for the information." We waved good-bye to each other and on the way to Ozie's apartment I was deep in thought. When I got there, I looked at the building and gasped. Smoke was rising. I ran in, and saw fire fighters and some tenants. "What happened?" Ozie looked at me. "It's Rentree. There was a fire. I guess he didn't pay attention to a candle or something." By now the ambulance was familiar with this place, and they took away Rentree who was alive. Considering what had happened before I didn't think it was an accident. I walked over to his nephew Eyrioch. "Do you think this happened on accident?" He nodded. "Are you sure? He did seem to be the type who is careful." He looked at me. "Of course it was! Who would want to do that?" I could have pointed out what other things had happened, but I didn't want to make him feel bad. I looked at Ozie. "Somehow this all seems to be connected to your statues theft. I just can't place my finger on it, but I know the statue has to be around here somewhere." Then another idea hit me. By now everyone was gone, so no one really noticed when I yelled, "OF COURSE!" Kazooie looked at me and gave a small squawk. "Yes Kazooie, I know I'm saying that a lot."  
  
To be continued.. 


	3. Part 3

As soon I was sure Ozie was ready I walked over to him. "Do you still have that camera set up?" He nodded. "Yeah, why?" I grinned. "I think I know where the statue is." Ozie practically leaped at me. "WHERE?" I was a little surprised at how much he reacted. "Let's wait until everyone goes to bed." He nodded again, even though I could see he was impatient. Meanwhile I turned to my thoughts. If Creel was a wanderer, is it possible he was the dark shape Ozie saw? It was also possible that he may have taken it if he knew. And knowing how much of a snoop Mrs. Shala was, I wasn't surprised if everyone knew. After all, only he and Channy were the ones not affected yet. I continued to mull for a few hours until Ozie came over. "Okay, it's dark, everyone's at bed, let's go get my statue NOW!" I covered my ears and rubbed them from the irritation of his voice coming a few inches from my ear. "All right." We walked down and went over to the pool. I dipped in my paw in, and tossed a pebble in. It went down to the bottom like any pebble would do. I tossed in a few more, scattering them around. "I didn't come here to see you skip rocks!" Ozie sounded very grouchy, but I guess losing a valuable statue would make anyone unhappy. "Hold on, I'm testing my theory." Just then one of the pebbles changed direction automatically. "Look!" I threw another one, and the same thing happened. Ozie was more interested. "What's happening?" I didn't say anything, but I thought I had the mystery nearly wrapped up. I put Kazooie near the edge of the pool, then dove in the water, and went over to the area where the pebbles changed direction. I put my arms around something and dragged it up. When I came out Ozie's eyes were wide. "Woah." The Crystal Chia was there! I grinned and began to explain. "Well, since the thief is obviously a tenant, they must have decided to drop it here before they left. And if you look at the tiles, they are perfect for this clear crystal and gold bits." I pointed out the clear and gold tiles. "Very simple plan, but it worked." Ozie was short of dancing with joy. "Now I have it back!" I shook my head. "Actually, we have to put it back into the pool." It was a little funny watching Ozie stop and pause for a while. "What?" "Well, if the thief comes to get it, we grab him or her." He sighed and we put it back. I went over to his mailbox. "Hold on." I grabbed at letter simply addressed to Ozie with no return address. I opened it. It was made out of letter cut from the Neopian Times like most criminals who write letters.  
  
OZIE, IF YOU WANT THE STATUE BACK PUT 20,000 NEOPOINTS IN THE WASTE BASKET BY THE BENCH IN THE PARK TOMORROW BY SIX OR I SELL IT  
  
"A ransom note for a statue. That is definitely a first," I muttered as I walked over to show it to Ozie. He read it quickly then looked at me. "Well, I don't have to worry about paying that." Just then there was a small noise. I grabbed Ozie and pulled him inside a bush, hoping he wouldn't mind the rudeness. I saw a fire Nimmo walk over to the pool. "Creel," I muttered and poked my head out some more. I expected him to do his famous vanishing act but nothing happened. He went inside and came out with the statue. I watched as he went inside his apartment room. "Okay Ozie, come with me!" We went over to Creel's area and I opened the door. Creel was standing in the open and looked surprised. "What-?" I stopped him. "Where's the statue?" I looked to see if he had left it out in the open before we came in. To my surprise, he didn't try to deny having the statue. He walked over to his kitchen and got it out from the oven, which wasn't on. "Well, I knew it was there, but I don't know who put it in there." I nodded, believing his story. Nothing seemed to make sense. Then it clicked. At least part of it did. Pretty soon more bits and pieces came to me and I thought I had it down. "Okay then." I turned to Ozie. "I need you to get a bag and fill it with whatever you want in there." He didn't seem to get it at first. "Why would I need-" Then it hit him. "Oh, I get it." I told Creel he was fine and we went over to Ozie's apartment. We got some random junk items and put it in a bag. Then the next morning I called the police and told them most of it, but not my suspicion on who it was. They agreed to be at the park, and soon I found myself there on a sunny day. Most of the tenants were coming back, and it looked as if Eryioch would leave soon. Everyone ducked, and waited. I put some of the special cream I had created before on the bag, and Ozie placed it in the wastebasket. He then walked over to where I was. About one minute, a pet zoomed by quickly. I wasn't able to identify the species because of the speed. But I didn't really need that information. "To the Neopian Hospital!" The police looked confused, but they all went. We all barged into the hospital's main door and the Elephante there looked at us in surprise. I guess when you work there police don't come barging in that often. "How can I help you?" I didn't ask because I knew the room number to go too, while Kazooie was hanging on tightly. All the cops followed, catching the eyes of others in the hospital at the time. I threw open the door, causing a loud BANG! The pet at the bed jerked up. "What in the world is going on?" I walked over to him. "Where did you hide the Chia, Rentree?" Rentree seemed surprised. "What Chia? There is no other pet here but me. Is this some kind of joke?" I just walked further forward. "I know you have the Crystal Chia, stop pretending. Or would you rather these officers search this room? It's not too small, they'll find it. And besides, your hands are stained from the cream." I stared at Rentree, who threw his arms up in exasperation. "All right." An officer walked up to him. "You have the right to remain silent-" "I know, hold on." He took out the Crystal Chia from a closet. It was unharmed, and the policeman put handcuffs on Rentree. I looked outside the hall, where Eyrioch was standing. He was seeing what all the noise had been about. "Now what is going on here?" He stopped in surprise when he saw Rentree. For a second he didn't seem to move. I felt very sorry for him and walked over to him, but he just went over to his uncle. I sighed as they went out of sight. I decided to follow them.  
  
"So that's how it ended?" My owner was listing to the story of my case. "Yeah. By the way, the bacon is burning." I watched the smoke rise up. "I see." He drank some of his coffee, and then realized what I had said. I laughed as he ran over and tried to save it. It was too late to save it, for it was charred beyond recognition. He looked at the remains. "So much for that." Just then, a large green plant came through a window. "Here you are M.P," he said and tossed it to the plant who gobbled it up and went back out the window. M.P was short for Mutated Plant, who had been created from one of Sheriff's bad cooking attempts. That reminded me of my magnifying glass, but then my owner sat down again. "So why did Rentree do it? I mean he is a stockbroker after all." "Yeah, but you see he had a bit of a gambling problem. He took a lot of money from his nephew's trust found which was to be saved until Eyricoh was older. He lost it all, and needed a quick way to come up with the money. Eyricoh's birthday is coming up, and by then he'll be old enough to take the money out. Of course Rentree would have to explain what happened, and that explanation would place him in jail because he took the money out and used it. So he figured he could get most of the money by stealing the statue and either holding until Ozie paid or until he could sell it." "How did he find out about the statue?" "Well, while Mrs. Shala was going through Ozie's things she saw the letter. She must have assumed he was getting a roommate, but Rentree probably knew what it was and saw his chance. "But what was with the poisoning and the explosive and all that other stuff?" "Well, Niki was a constant swimmer. There was a good chance she might have bumped into the statue. Also, I remember that when Mrs. Shala was talking about cleaning the pool, Rentree was about to say something, then he left." "To get the explosives?" "Well, they weren't actually explosives, just a contraption that made a loud noise and smoke come out." "So how's his nephew reacting?" "Oh, he forgave him, but right now Rentree is still in trouble. He did a whole bunch of crimes just to pay up the money he needed for Eyrioch's fund." There was a small silence between us. "So what about Creel?" "Oh, he went over to the center. They're running a few tests and such. I think he's a little happier now that someone can believe him." "What exactly was the point of Rentree dressing up to look like a ghost?" "Well, he said he saw the pet or person, but having done several crimes no one took him seriously." "So it was Creel then, if he could vanish like that." I nodded, and then stopped. "Wait. Creel couldn't hold anything while wandering, and the person or pet was holding a candle, so." I thought about Mrs. Stami saying something about a ghost. "Well, I remember a Lenny outside the building a while before saying something about a ghost." "No one else was there?" I shook my head. "Then that means."  
  
THE END 


End file.
